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Archive for the Small Business Category

Have you lost that lovin’ feeling…

March 15, 2012

Lost that lovin' feeling for your businessfor your business? Have the long nights, hard work, and lost hours taken their toll? They have for me.

About 4 months ago, I started my business, Book Worm Laser & Design. I was excited. It was the culmination of over 9 months worth of work, planning, blood, sweat, and tears. I had been posting consistently twice a week (and sometimes, 3+ times per week) on my personal blog, BlueCapra.com, since the end of August 2011. I woke up early, stayed up late, all in the name of business, marketing, content, and consistently. Then… poof.

It didn’t happen all at once, just a day or so here or there. The consistent 5 hours of sleep I was getting was getting to me. I was tired often, did not want to wake up an hour early to create before my day job. My creativity had began to falter.  I had lost that lovin’ feeling toward my business. I had burned out. I wondered to myself, was this the end my business and of all my progress, of all my hard work?

I doubt there has ever been an entrepreneur that did not get burnt out on the work they do. We put our lives into the businesses we build and sometimes, we push too far. We have lost sight of what we love about the business.  A break is needed, a time to step back and reevaluate things. We need to reboot. Read the remainder of this entry »

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Creativity and hotdog carts

January 16, 2012

Hotdog MikeDo you listen to podcasts?  I am making my way through the archives the podcast that Justin Lukasavige puts out on  CoachRadio.tv.  I have been listening for months (and months and months it seems…) .  There is just so much content and all of it is great.  I have listened to over 104 hours (yes, HOURS) of podcasts from CoachRadio.tv and I am about 2/3 or so through the archive.  The most recent one I finished was episode 136, a Your Story about Hotdog Mike.

There are many jobs and businesses I don’t feel I am cut out for.  I’m sure you feel the same way.  Some jobs and businesses are more profitable and prestigious than others.  Mike Juiliano decided to build a business around a hotdog cart.  His story is really amazing but the most impressive take away the I learned was the importance and benefit of being creative.

Hotdog Mike, as he is called, is not your typical hotdog cart operator.  He creates hotdogs for special occasions, from customer suggestions and requests, and even has his own website, HotdogMike.com.  He is on Facebook and Twitter and has been seen on the Today Show among others.  He has built a business around a hotdog cart where people seek him out instead of using him as a convenient source of a quick meal.  What other hotdog cart operator can say any of that?

What are you doing in your business to stand out and be remarkable?  If Hotdog Mike can be remarkable with a hotdog cart, what’s holding you back?

 

Thanks for reading Creativity and hotdog carts. I would appreciate your comments and feedback on this post, so please let me know what you think. If you like the post, please share it with your friends. If you want to read more, subscribe to the RSS feed. Have a great day.

What time do you wake up?

January 12, 2012

Clock on an old wallI work a lot.  I have a regular job and I am starting a business, Book Worm Laser & Design.  Over the past few days I have begun to ask myself if all this work is worth the effort?  How long am I going to work like this before I see some sort of payoff?  Am I working all these hours for a reason?

What time do you wake up?  In a recent blog post from Andy Traub, “Anything that motivates you to get up at 5am is healthy”, he discusses some of the reasons he wakes up early.  I don’t get up quite that early, but I am usually up by 5:30a.  Since I don’t get to bed until around 12:30a, I have been missing a lot of sleep (although I do sleep until 7:00a or so on the weekends, maybe a little later at times).  Am I being productive?

When I wake up at 5:30a, I get ready and go to my normal job.  We have a treadmill so I have been known to run on it for 15 – 30 minutes when I first get there.  Otherwise, I get started with my business at around 6:15a.   Read the remainder of this entry »

Thanks for reading What time do you wake up?. I would appreciate your comments and feedback on this post, so please let me know what you think. If you like the post, please share it with your friends. If you want to read more, subscribe to the RSS feed. Have a great day.

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